learning tree worker

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

anthony h.

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Jun 3, 2001
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Location
n.ridgeville ohio
i am wondering if i could have a good career in arboriculture if i do not go to college for it. i don,t have the money or the time right now. maybe someday, i will. i started tree work about a year ago and really like it. i have learned alot on the job, about propper tree work practices.i have bought books to help myself learn more i would like to have my own buissnes someday maybe. if some could write back and let me know how they learned and became pro tree workers
 
Well, I am not going to lie. It doesnt hurt. What you are doing every day will help you a ton. Experience is definitely the best way to learn. I went to many classes for arbiculture but never finished my degree. I didnt like math or literature classes as I wasnt interested. You can buy the books from ISA that would help you become a certified arborist. I think this would be more benificial to you rather than literature classes. Although, if you decide to go for your own business, a business class would be smart also. For now keep up your experience in the industry. And actually I have learned a lot from reading posts in the residential tree section. Others experiences are just as important as yours.:cool: Good luck with your occupation.
 
I think that if you are really interested in the profession, it will be obvious as you will be fascinated with all aspects of it and want to learn more. Sound like you? So far, I got that impression from you. How you learn is not that important - it is more important to know that you must learn the right way, and seek the way to learn it, formally or informally.

I didn't take too many formal course in tree care. As a forester, I transferred alot of broad-scale forest knowledge down to the single tree level on my own too, lots of reading, watching others and asking question.

You will probably do well with a fascinating interest to power you. Darin is right on the money with the business courses. All the technical knowhow in your own field will not guarantee you will suceed in your own business. Those concepts are easily learned, but are very important.

Welcome here, and good luck.
 
On the job training, is the best you can get.& learn from the old timers, They have more knowledge than you can imagine. Books are great, & you need them to get certified. We use to hire arborists from the local college. Well what im trying to say none were kept around. The ones that worked out were the ones that wanted on the job training. & were not afraid of getting dirty.They all went to become the best treemen. I seen alot of good treemen leave to go out on there own, Just to come back to work for us, cause they had no buisness training.I hope I made some sence.
 
There are other ways to learn to learn about tree work. You are on the right track with wanting to learn about the industry. if you do branch out and have your own business you don't have to have any fancy degrees or certifications to be successful. One thing that I am currently persuing is the ISA arborist certification. I have been running a successful landscape businesses for 3 year but I just realized that I really love working with trees the most and it doesnt feel like work to me. I am turning my landscape company into a tree care business. Will being a ISA certified Arborist guarantee my business continue to be successful? No, but the knowledge that comes with being a isa certified arborist will be beneficial to me in the work that I preform daily. And it couldn't hurt to be able to say that I am ISA certified.

The ISA is the Inernation Society of Arboriculture which is probably the biggest and most recognized organizational body for tree work. Becoming certified could help you advance at your current job.

Here is thier website

https://www.isa-arbor.com/
 
Here in CT we have arborist law. That means you must be a licensed arborist in the state of CT to advertise/perform any type of arborist work (put real simply). That ISA business is nothing more that a sticker on your hard hat around here. You can’t cut a branch legally as an ISA certified arborist.

So I guess I would check your state laws before you get too horned up for the ISA cert
 
Yeah I guess I should look at dates around here.

In Arizona it's like the wild west around here when it come to tree work. You don't even have to be a legal US citizen to trim trees here! LoL.

To me it is more about the knowledge than anything than a certificate. Do any of you guys recommend any books on the topics of tree or soil biology, species identification, trimming, pruning or anything to do with trees? I have a good understanding but I always crave more knowledge. I am currently reading The fundamentals of general tree work.
 
Yeah I guess I should look at dates around here.

In Arizona it's like the wild west around here when it come to tree work. You don't even have to be a legal US citizen to trim trees here! LoL.

To me it is more about the knowledge than anything than a certificate. Do any of you guys recommend any books on the topics of tree or soil biology, species identification, trimming, pruning or anything to do with trees? I have a good understanding but I always crave more knowledge. I am currently reading The fundamentals of general tree work.
Sounds like you are thinking about what really matters. I have tons of respect for loggers and arborists that have learned all they know just from cutting (and climbing and cutting), but some book smarts and attending conferences can really deepen understanding. You will be gratified to realize you already know a lot, but will also discover something else: the more you know, the more you realize you don't know! But you will still know magnitudes more than the typical homeowner that can maybe tell a "pine tree" from "those other trees".

Just one example: there are a lot of arborists that think "wind sailing" a tree is a way to make it more windfirm, especially with tall conifers in the PNW. Problem: you "stovepipe" the tree, cleaning out all the small branches and deadwood, leaving the big heavy branches makes those more likely to break -- and a 25 ft. 4- 6 in. branch falling 30 - 40 ft. onto (or through the roof by the pointy end) is not a good thing. And the arborist contributed to that risk, because the tree had 30 big branches that all moved more in wind or bent more under snow load. making them more likely to fail.

The science behind making "windsailing" a no no was performed in an overgrown nursery, where 3- 40 ft. trees were pruned various ways and a bank of giant fans were set up, turned on, and spun up until stuff wa flying. I kid you not. Science can be fun. .
 
Correction: 30 - 40 trees (missed a key). Its science; you need replication to capture variability among trees. One tree does not prove anything, but can get you thinking.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top